For those who are unaware, the controversial comments were blatant white supremacist rhetoric. The following image is from Press Progress.

These are blatant white supremacist beliefs that align directly with the christchurch shooter who was motivated by similar views. In fact, his manifesto was entitled “The Great Replacement.”

The headline would change later that day. I assume because a tweet I made making fun of this headline got traction online.

Journalists don’t write headlines!

Yes. Some journalists are probably cringing at the fact that I just focused on a headline to describe a story. They often emphasize that headlines are not written by themselves but editors. This is fair, however, headlines are still important because they are often written by editors or people with more authority. This is important since headlines show how higher ups in the newsroom view a story which thereby gives you an indication of how they assign stories or give angles for certain stories.

Beyond that, the actual stories themselves are just as vague and strange. Let’s go into the first article I mentioned and read the first paragraph.

“United Conservative Party candidate Caylan Ford says she is no longer running in the riding of Calgary-Mountain View after a report surfaced about remarks she made suggesting white supremacist terrorists are treated unfairly.”

That’s a lot of words to say “Caylan Ford resigned after she said white supremacist terrorists are treated unfairly.” Since that’s what actually happened - she didn’t suggest it. She said it.

If you look at Caylan Ford and Eva Kiryakos (another candidate who said refugees are raping people enmass and that muslims are committing genocide and “breeding” with Christians” and said being trans is a perversion) you see similar reporting.

Why are you cherry picking things?

I think the important thing to note is that these cases go back a year. You can look back at the half a dozen vetted candidates or nomination candidates who said racist things and see how it was covered. You can look up Cindy Ross who was a vetted UCP candidate that said putting a mosque in her community was like “jailing the bank robbers in the bank vault.”

At this point i’m getting a bit tired writing this so just consult this excel sheet and google yourself. You’ll see a similar trend.

Atleast they are willing to write about these things

Yes, they are writing about these things. However, we should note that these articles are in response to something broken by someone else. No outlet I mentioned above - CTV, CBC, Global, Journal, SUN - has broken any of these stories. Instead it falls on an internal leak to Press Progress or some random person scrolling on social media.

Furthermore, no deep dive has gone into this problem or launched an investigative piece into the UCP since this issue only affects them. I mean unless you think being a white nationalist is the same as opposing a pipeline (which was a serious argument made by pundit Danielle Smith). On a side note, i’m surprised that Smith still has a platform considering she refused to kick out a homophobic candidate and that she pushes conspiracy theories on her show. Here, watch this to get some context.

Also, more UCP candidates named Todd have been disqualified for racism or homophobia than candidates all candidates in the NDP, AB Party, Liberal Party *combined*.

Let’s just focus on politics!

Being racist, islamophobic, or a white nationalist is a political view and has serious policy implications.

Well at least Kenney is cracking down on them

Not really. In the Cindi Ross case the UCP executive director defended her by saying people's opinions change. Even though she was a grown person by the time she said those comments and the comments were pretty recent. Note, Cindi said that having a mosque in her community was like “jailing bank robbers in the bank vault.”

And it was also just reported that Kenney is allowing Caylan Ford - a white supremacist - to stay in his party. He said he’ll only kick members out if they belong to a hate group. This is not a strong position and is weak. White supremacy should not be seen as an acceptable ideology to hold as a member of a political party

So what now

Journalists need to realize this is a problem and do serious reflection. I hope this provides some context when people like myself critique you for your coverage. Also, we know this isn't’ all your fault. The ownership of your papers is a problem too but I don’t have time for all that. Keep in mind, I just do this on my free time.

This stuff doesn’t take much work.

Edit: Just realized that this article is more of a “how” vs a “why” this coverage exists. I’ll likely write the “why” piece later. Right now i’m pretty tired.

]]>why alberta media is bad at covering bigotrystephen taylor, metacanada, and the search for answers.Bashir MohamedFri, 15 Mar 2019 06:25:44 +0000https://www.bashirmohamed.com/blog/taylor5882e9a520099ed871ae0a41:588812a1f7e0abceb8eeb609:5c8b356db208fc3f674c08a2I have chose to publish this piece after learning more about the tragedy
that unfolded in Christchurch today.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, middle, poses with some members of his leadership campaign team at the Conservative leadership convention in May. From left, Marc-André Leclerc, Hamish Marshall (a former director for Rebel Media), Scheer, Kenzie Potter and Stephen Taylor. (CBC)

Why am I choosing to share this post now?

I have been investigating and writing this piece for half a year. I have hesitated sharing it due to running into dead ends, feeling burnt out, and worried about the threat of a lawsuit.

I have chose to publish this piece after learning more about the tragedy that unfolded in Christchurch today. Specifically, learning about what motivated the shooter - racism, islamophobia, and white supremacy. Ideologies that have been boosted and legitimized by many powerful figures in Canadian media and Canadian politics.

I chose to publish this piece because I am tired of these figures getting a pass for their connection to the spread of that ideology. Any connection should be enough for condemnation.

Introduction: Who is Stephen Taylor and What is /r/metacanada?

The focus on this piece is on Stephen Taylor and his connection to /r/metacanada - a white supremacist “subreddit.” Stephen Taylor was the Digital Director of Andrew Scheer’s successful leadership campaign. Scheer is the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and is likely to be our next Prime Minister. Taylor previously worked for SUN News and was Director of the conservative National Citizens Coalition.

Taylor is still active in the Conservative Party of Canada.

A subreddit is a community-created hub based on www.reddit.com. The subreddit /r/metacanada is specifically focused on boosting far-right figures and is notorious for being Islamophobic. Below are examples of popular posts.

What is Stephen Taylor’s connection to /r/metaCanada?

Taylor’s connection to metacanada has previously been reported on. VICE News wrote about this connection in 2017 writing that he is “linked to the alt-right metacanada subreddit.” Taylor responded on twitter downplaying his connection with the following tweet.

After his denial, the connection to /r/metacanada was not really brought up again. He continues to deny major involvement in the subreddit.

This is not remotely true and his connection to metacanada is long and extensive. He was active on the website with his twitter account even appearing as a “social media” link on the subreddits side bar in June 24, 2016. A sidebar is where the important information of a subreddit is stored.

Taylor was also close to the mods of the subreddit and - as indicated by twitter interactions - knows some in person. With some tweets suggesting that he has gone for beers with them. You can see this from the tweets below between Taylor and the subreddits twitter account.

Taylor also used the subreddit to recruit for a job posting for SUN News. He was ultimately successful in finding a candidate for the position and posted on the subreddit thanking them for their help.

Taylor’s most recent post on /r/metacanada was on April 25, 2017. You can find all of Taylor’s comments on the subreddit here. In short, Taylor was a prominent member of the subreddit who continued remaining active up until 2017.

Taylor’s association and appearance on the subreddit should be enough for him to apologize and resign from any position he holds in the Conservative Party of Canada along with any position related to the upcoming election.

Is that it?

This is all I know for sure. There is more but before I continue I’d like to pause for a moment. The conservative movement in Canada has been plagued by connections to the alt-right and islamophobic figures.

I’ve written about this extensively and the lack of urgency and sense of alarm from these incidents have disappointed me. To put simply, any connection to these groups should be enough to disqualify a candidate and any defense of these figures should be enough to fire a pundit.

With that said, the rest of this article will focus on investigating a tip I received in August of 2018. The tip was from a mod of /r/Canada who heard a rumor that Stephen Taylor was much more active on /r/metacanada via the use of “alts.”

What is an alt?

An “alt” is an alternative account used by users for anonymity. These are common for users on reddit and other social media sites.

/u/loneconservative was important to founding metacanada and was the user who created the ‘CSS” for the subreddit. A CSS is the visual style of a subreddit. Loneconservative was later “shadowbanned” by the reddit admins for breaking the site rules. Shadowbanning makes a users comments lack visibility.

What type of content do they post?

To put it simply, they post racist, islamophobic, and violent content. Below are some examples. Warning advised.

What is Taylor’s connection to these accounts?

Moving forward, I am going to present connections between Taylor and these accounts. The following connections include interactions between Taylor and the accounts in addition to major similarities between the accounts and Taylor.

/u/loneconservative has a twitter account called @metacanada_LC. This account follows Stephen Taylor’s real account - @Stephen_Taylor. Taylor and this account had interactions in 2013. One interaction included Taylor linking an obscure post by /u/loneconservative and tagging @metacanada_LC.

Taylor posted that tweet half an hour after loneconservative posted it on /r/metacanada.

Taylor and @metacanada_LC have also replied to each other within minutes of each other.

Another important thing to note is the similar content pushed by /u/lonekkkonservative and Taylor. For example, /u/lonekkkonservative is a mod of /r/cutCBC.

For context, Taylor has frequently been called a “shill” for using metacanada to promote his work and for his attempts at seeking recruits for jobs. I have no idea why Taylor chose to write “Shilly Joel” but this is a clear connection to /u/loneconservative and could serve as admittance that he is loneconservative and the associated alts.

Is that everything?

Yes. I’ve worked on this piece on and off and I feel that this is a fair way to present what I’ve found. In summary, Taylor was an active member of the white nationalist site /r/metacanada from its early days up until 2017. This alone should call for major scrutiny due to his position as digital director for the Conservative Party of Canada.

In addition, Taylor has interacted, boosted, and potentially “gone for beers” with users on metacanada that have posted violent, racist, and Islamophobic content. These users range from the person who runs @metacanada along with three accounts - loneconservative, lonellliberal, lonekkkonservative - that a source alleges belongs to Taylor.

What next?

I truly believe that people can change and learn from their mistakes. However, this learning must be genuine. Taylor’s undeniable connection to the /r/metacanada requires an immediate apology and explanation for his extensive activity on the subreddit.

He should also resign from any role he has with the Conservative Party of Canada. Including any role in the upcoming federal election

In addition, Taylor should explain his connections to the three “alt” accounts that are alleged to belong to him.

-30-

I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal withpain

- James Baldwin

]]>stephen taylor, metacanada, and the search for answers.History Is Not DeadBashir MohamedWed, 19 Sep 2018 03:54:41 +0000https://www.bashirmohamed.com/blog/2018/9/18/history-is-not-dead5882e9a520099ed871ae0a41:588812a1f7e0abceb8eeb609:5ba1b622c2241bbf4bfe317bIn short, we - writers, historians, academics, etc - should always question
if our research considers those who are living from the effects of this
history. If it doesn’t then does your research really matter?

John Hope Franklin from his admissions file at Harvard University, 1935

John Hope Franklin was born on January 2, 1915. He grew up during the era of Jim Crow and the discrimination he faced would encourage him to become a historian. For example, he signed up to volunteer in the Second World War as a clerical worker. However, despite having a bachelors and masters degree, he was denied because he was, “the wrong colour.” Discrimination like this would follow him throughout his career and heavily influence his writing.

In his 1963 article, “The Dilemma of the American Negro Scholar” he explains how he faced barriers when trying to access an archive in North Carolina.

“My arrival created a panic and emergency among the administrators that was, itself, an incident of historic proportions. The archivist frankly informed me that I was the first Negro who had sought use of facilities there; and as the architect who designed the building had not anticipated such a situation, my use of the manuscripts and other materials would have to be postponed for several days, during time one of the exhibition rooms would be converted to a reading room for me.”

Franklin’s experience is familiar for any Black person who has visited an archives or worked in the field of history. Franklin would go on to say the archivists did not believe that he had, “the capacity to use the material there.” This would lead to Franklin making it his goal to, “weave into the fabric of American history enough presence of Blacks so that the story of the United States could be told adequately and fairly.” Franklin would go on to write, “From Slavery to Freedom” which has sold three million copies and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995. Franklin would pass away on March of 2009.

The experience of Franklin is one that any Black archivist, historian, or visitor to those spaces can relate to. As Ashley Farmer, a Black history professor at the University of Texas, Notes:

“More than half a century later, Black historians often still feel out of place in the archive. Many of us can recount an archivist’s sense of surprise upon seeing us conduct research confidently, clearly familiar with the procedures and regulations. Assuming it is not one of the few repositories dedicated to Black history, employees are sometimes startled that the archive even houses Black history records and confusion as to the importance or significance of these collections.”

What Ashley describes is something that I feel a strong connection to. The first time I went to the Provincial Archives of Alberta, I was asked by the person at the front desk if I was “lost.” In some cases, archivists would simply ignore my requests.

I recall requesting access to the provinces eugenics case files to see the extent at which Black people were sterilized. However, the archivist instead pulled out ten random case files instead of the dozens that I initially requested. The archivist also didn’t understand why I needed those cases despite explaining my research question multiple times.

It’s also important to note that, throughout my time at the archives, I never encountered a single Black person. Instead, I was alone in a place that did not expect my arrival. This experience, and others like it, is what lead me to begin writing this blog and helped influenced my principles behind my writing.

I choose to navigate these difficult spaces in order for Alberta’s civil rights history to be more accessible and vivid. In my opinion, easily accessible material is what will make this history more well known. For example, the general public knew almost nothing about Viola Desmond until a few years ago. This only changed with a public education campaign in the form of a heritage minute, educational material geared towards youth, and her being depicted on our $10 bill.

Thus, it’s become my principle to ensure my writing is never behind a paywall and is presented in a way that anyone can understand.

Who Owns History?

On September 7, 2018, I published an article for Sprawl Calgary that described the case of Charles Daniels - a Black civil rights hero that fought against segregation at the Sherman Grand Theatre. The post gained considerable interest and lead to a CBC article describing the story and its significance. In response, Alan Hustak, a Calgary based writer, wrote the following post. This post was the catalyst behind me writing this blog entry and I hope to address Alan’s concerns.

In short, Alan’s seems to be concerned that CBC would publish my article because he has previously written about the case. He goes on to cite some examples of his writing and how he has previously “lectured” about it. He then closes the post by saying, “some discovery.” In additional comments he laments that, “nobody reads anything anymore.”

My goal here is to not feud with Alan. However, I would like to clarify a few points. To begin, I’ve never claimed to ‘discover’ anything. Daniel’s case was reported in the local papers at the time and his case has always been at the archives. I always try to stay away from the “discover” narrative due its colonial roots.

Furthermore, I actually cited Alan’s work within the Sprawl article. I am not entirely sure why he suggests that I didn’t do basic background research. In addition, I should note that my writing and Alan’s differs greatly. For starters, I made sure to place the story within a historical context to showcase why Daniel’s action was significant. While Alan’s work spends considerable time trying to excuse Senator Lougheed for racism because he had Black employees.

Alan’s work also lacked any words from Daniels or a discussion of the legacy the case had on Alberta’s Black history and the Black community. This is why I made it a personal goal of mine to pull the court case and made a specific effort to quote Daniels - something that was not done in historical reporting on the Daniels case. I encourage you to read Alan’s section on Daniels and my article to see these considerable differences.

Regardless, my goal here is to not claim that either of us have ownership over Daniels. Instead, it’s important to challenge how these stories have been previously told in order to see how we can make sure people like Daniels are recognized as the heroes they are. The writing of the Sprawl article and the follow-up CBC article does that and brings his case to wider audiences - which I think is a goal that Alan would support.

History Is Not Dead

The important thing to acknowledge is that history is still a predominately white field. Some progress has been made - for example, there is now some gender diversity. However, this does not fully address the problem. As Dr. Malinda Smith notes, diversity is often meant as “diversifying whiteness.” This means that the academy, history, and archives continue to have the same barriers that John Hope Franklin encountered decades ago.

We should also acknowledge that those doing the important historical work - and the critical advocacy that follows - are not historians. For example, Cheryl Foggo, a noted Black Albertan, is a writer and filmmaker. Dr. Malinda Smith, who writes considerably on diversity and the academy, is a Political Science Professor. And Dr. Jennifer Kelly, who has done important work on Black-Canadian history, is an Education professor.

In addition, important history is often held by community members who have strong personal connections to those stories. People such as Junetta Jamerson, Debbie Beaver, and Peggy Brown. It’s important that this is understood so that we understand that history is not dead.

Those who experienced our provinces Black history - the discrimination and resistance - are still alive along with their relatives often being subject to the legacy of that discrimination. For example, in 1938, a Black woman - Miss Utendale (first name unknown) - was refused entry to nursing training at the Royal Alexander Hospital because she was Black.

A motion from the 1938 Hospital Board meeting that denied Miss Utendale entrance to the Royal Alexander Hospital. The motion was moved by Margaret Crang, one of Edmonton’s first women elected to City Council.

To see the legacy of this decision all you need to do is look at the graduation photos of nursing students from the University of Alberta. You don’t see a single Black face for decades. This is simply one example but illustrates how the historic work we do has real and considerable impacts on people and that the communities effected are still very much alive.

A photo of the 1978 graduating nursing class from the University of Alberta. Photo taken 40 years after Miss Utendale’s was refused admission.

Unfortunately, this is often ignored by archivists, historians, and academics. In fact, in most of the cases I’ve read, the Black person’s experience is often ignored. For example, I could find no photo of Charles Daniels or any detailed information about his life. While in contrast, the people who refused him entry have their photos shown along with biographies describing their lives.

Another example is Lulu Anderson, a Black woman that was refused entry in the Metropolitan Theatre in 1922 Edmonton. She is not quoted anywhere in the news articles about the case and the judge that ruled against her has a statue located near the River Valley. In addition, her court case was destroyed in 1971 by a policy that did not find her case historically important.

One final example is Ted King. He was a Black Calgarian that sued a motel for segregation in 1959. An extensive academic article was actually written about his case in 2017 but no photo of Ted was included. In fact, the writer of the article only saw Ted for the first time when I sent her one from the Glenbow archives. King’s case is also interesting since his son reached out to me after I wrote a post on him. It turns out that his own son never heard of this story despite it previously being in academic journals.

In short, we - writers, historians, academics, etc - should always question if our research considers those who are living from the effects of this history. If it doesn’t then does your research really matter?

It’s a question I constantly grapple with since I have at times been at fault - telling the stories of Black Albertan’s who are still alive. This is why I constantly try to be aware of this - but it makes me wonder if white historians do the same.

This is why I hesitate calling myself a historian. It’s a title that I believe holds incredible importance and responsibility. Where historians have to carefully consider what impact the cases they uncover have. One reason for this is because history is political.

It’s political because of how historical spaces have been designed to keep Black people out. It’s also political because of how the ignorance of our history allows people in powerful positions to repeat historical narratives to justify modern discriminatory policies. This is something I recently wrote about for the National Observer.

In closing, I hope that this post helps you understand my reason for creating this blog and why I choose to write about our history. It’s a challenging task that has enormous responsibility and implications. It’s my hope that, with this work, the story of the Canada can be told adequately and fairly.

“For history, as nearly no one seems to know, is not merely some- thing to be read. And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all that we do. It could scarcely be otherwise, since it is to history that we owe our frames of reference, our identities, and our aspirations.

And it is with great pain and terror that one begins to realize this. In great pain and terror, one begins to assess the history which has placed one where one is, and formed one’s point of view. In great pain and terror, because, thereafter, one enters into battle with that historical creation, oneself, and attempts to recreate oneself according to a principle more humane and more liberating; one begins the attempt to achieve a level of personal maturity and freedom which robs history of its tyrannical power, and also changes history.

But, obviously, I am speaking as an historical creation which has had bitterly to contest its history, to wrestle with it and finally accept it, in order to bring myself out of it.”

- James Baldwin "The White Man's Guilt," in Ebony, August 1965

]]>History Is Not Deadcanada's racist geography and what we can do about it Bashir MohamedFri, 03 Aug 2018 01:38:13 +0000https://www.bashirmohamed.com/blog/2018/8/2/canadas-racist-geography-and-what-we-can-do-about-it5882e9a520099ed871ae0a41:588812a1f7e0abceb8eeb609:5b63aa0c2b6a2802539038e7The robbery of Black peoples names makes historical research difficult.
This is because historic Black figures are either nameless or only have
their first name listed. This makes it extremely hard to look into their
lives and find out who they were.

Introduction

My research requires me to be exposed to terrible things on a consistent basis. This is because of how terrible the discrimination was, and still is, for Black people in Alberta.

Often times, the historical material are disturbing articles that paint Black people as lazy, violent, or unintelligent. Eventually, I became desensitized to the material. I knew the things I came across were terrible but i’d simply catalogue them and move forward.

When I was looking into John Ware, a famous cowboy and Black Albertan, I noticed that a ridge was named after him that was called “Nigger John ridge.” This made me question - are there other sites in Canada with similar names?

This lead me to the Canadian Geographical name database where I put in some racial slurs and ended up with a couple dozen results - some official and some historic. Here are some examples. Look through them before I explain why these names are common.

How White Canadian’s Remember Black Canadians.

The Edmonton Bulletin, July 19, 1890, Page 1, Item Ar00103

The most important thing to understand is that Canada has an extensive anti-Black history that is relatively unknown to most Canadian’s. For example, Canada practiced slavery for more than 200 years (emancipation day was yesterday), segregation was common, along with race riots targeting Black communities.

The Edmonton Bulletin, June 1, 1908, Page 1, Item Ar00118

Understanding this history allows us to understand the ways White Canadians viewed and continue to view Black people. For starters, this historical legacy comes from a process practiced during slavery. Where Black people were robbed of their full names and simply referred to as “Nigger [firstname]” or “Negro [Firstname].”

Most of the geographical locations listed above come from this practice. This is because the sites were often named after Black people who lived near the area or named after events involving Black people.

Often times these events were rooted in tragedy. One example is “Nigger Rapids” on the Gatineau River. The rapids are named after a Black couple that tragically drowned in the early 1900s. Instead of honouring them with their full names, the white residents made the conscious choice to name their final resting place after an anti-Black slur.

Because of this we don’t know much about that couple and their lives. The White residents succeeded in dehumanizing them even in death.

"It was meant to describe the people who died," LeBlanc said. "There was no pejorative connotation then as there is now."

LeBlanc said that no formal request by residents has been made to change the name of the rapids but that the commission is considering whether it should rename all 11 sites that include the racial slur.

Claire Hamel, who lives near the rapids, said the official name is not a source of controversy among locals.

"Nobody talks about this," she said. "It's the name, that's it. Like Bouchette, like Maniwaki, like Ottawa."

Bouchette Mayor Réjean Major told Radio-Canada he has no intention of asking the commission to change the name of the rapids.”

I’m surprised that the journalist did not press the resident. It’s clear that the name of the rapids are not like “Bouchette” or “Maniwaki.” These are emotionless slurs that were racist then and are racist now.

Anyways, you can clearly see these examples in sites like “Negro Point” in Saint John’s which was named after the Hodges family. A family of Black loyalists. Or ‘Negro Brook’ which was renamed ‘Harriet O’Ree Road’ after a Black woman who lived nearby.

The other sites on the list come from similar sources. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to learn about who the sites are named after due to their full name - and thus their stories - being robbed from our history.

What did Black people think about this practice?

John Ware, mentioned above, was a famous Albertan cowboy. He was born into slavery and worked in a ranch once he gained freedom. Ware used this opportunity to learn the skills necessary to become a rancher. He eventually drove 3,000 cattles into Southern Alberta and established his own ranch.

However, to White Calgarians, he was known as ‘Nigger John.’ This was not a name that John Ware preferred despite myths spread by the White residents. Below is an excerpt from Cheryl Foggo describing how John Ware felt about this word

To Calgarians he was known as “Nigger John.” The myth that he accepted the name, to his face, as a term of affection persists to this day. In 1960, after decades of enduring several landmarks in the Brooks area being named “Nigger John,” two of his children, Bob and Nettie, wrote letters, cajoled and finally worked the media in order to remove the offending word from the titles of the places named in his honour. “No one called my father ‘Nigger John’,” said Nettie. “Not to his face. The only time I saw someone do it was in Calgary - and that man ended up in hospital. But Father paid his bill.”

Still, they chose to name a ridge after him called ‘Nigger John Ridge." A name that would last until 1970. In addition, a 4-H club existed called the "Nigger John Club".

Chronicle, September 5, 1957, Page 3, Item Ar00302

Regardless, this example clearly shows how this practice was not remotely morally acceptable then or now. Any suggestions that these names honour Black Canadians are not based in truth but instead represent a revisionist history meant to preserve anti-Black discrimination.

Impacts on research

The robbery of Black peoples names makes historical research difficult. This is because historic Black figures are either nameless or only have their first name listed. This makes it extremely hard to look into their lives and find out who they were.

One example is “Nigger Molly” - one of the first female settlers in Medicine Hat. Unfortunately, the historical record rarely describes her by her full name. Instead, it took historians like Cheryl Foggo painstaking research in order to find her real name - Molly Smith.

I encourage you to read the article below. Her life was very interesting since she owned a laundry business and had an intense rivalry with another laundry store owner.

Lethbridge Daily Herald, Nov 11, 1922

What’s next?

I hope by now you understand how troubling these names are and how they don't provide respect for the Black people the sites are named after. With this new knowledge, I encourage you to look at the list and contact the authority responsible for the names.

Also keep in mind that these names only include natural geographical places. They do not include things like street names, buildings, or parks. So take some time to look into your city and see what else is out there.

And if you find something, demand that the name is changed and use this new knowledge to fight against defenders of this practice. If you face difficulties just consider the Quebec example. Instead of resting in rapids named after a racial slur, they’ll be resting in a site that humanizes them and honors their name.

]]>canada's racist geography and what we can do about itted king: a civil rights heroBashir MohamedSun, 29 Jul 2018 22:06:03 +0000https://www.bashirmohamed.com/blog/2018/7/29/ted-king-a-civil-rights-hero5882e9a520099ed871ae0a41:588812a1f7e0abceb8eeb609:5b5e2a4470a6addd33e0870cThis is the story of Ted King, the Alberta Association for the Advancement
of Coloured People, and a civil rights case that challenged segregation in
Alberta.

Corporal Theodore 'Ted' King met by his parents on his return to Calgary, Alberta. L-R: John King, Della Mayes (later married Ted King), Stella King, Violet King - na-4987-5

Introduction

The Southern Poverty Law Center, The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, The Black Panthers, the NAACP.

These groups often come to mind when we think of civil rights organizations. Yet, we often forget about similar organizations and the important work they did in Alberta and across Canada. Organizations like the Coloured Protective Associations, Brotherhood of the Sleeping Car Porters, Coloured Canadian Industrial Association and the AAACP - Alberta Association for the Advancement of Coloured People.

These are organizations that contributed to our civil rights history and fought for the rights of Black Canadians. However, their history is often hidden with their contributions unknown by the general public.

This is the story of one of those organizations and their fight for racial justice. This is the story of Ted King, the Alberta Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, and a civil rights case that challenged segregation in Alberta.

Group celebrating Hazel Hayes win as first Alberta Association for the Advancement of Colored People (AAACP) Queen, Calgary, Alberta. July 1958

Ted King

Ted King grew up in Calgary and worked professionally as an accountant. He was also a veteran of the second World War. His parents were John and Stella King and his sister, Violet King, was the first Black lawyer in Alberta.

In 1959, King was President of the Alberta Association for the Advancement of Coloured People. He was also head of the grievances committee, responsible for addressing complaints of racial discrimination.

According to King, the purpose of the AAACP was to, “promote goodwill and to seek equality in social and civic activities throughout Alberta.” This was done by fighting against discrimination along with hosting social events for the provinces Black community.

King’s process for resolving complaints was simple. He would first contact those accused of racial injustice, explain who he is, and see if the problem could be resolved informally. If not then he would “seek support from some of the important citizens here in Calgary and some of the associations that [they] belong to.” This shows that the AAACP was an effective force for social change and had considerable power.

Barclay's Motel Pamflet

Barclay’s Motel

On May 13, 1959 King was trying to get hold of a record player and asked his friend Harvey Bailey if he knew where he could find one. Bailey responded by saying that his friend Jim Pelly had a player and may be staying at the Barclay’s Motel.

King then called the motel and asked for Jim Pelly. John Barclay, owner of the hotel, picked up the phone and denied that anyone by that name was staying there. King then started describing his car but Barclay was insistent - there was no Jim Pelly. Confused, King then described Pelly as a “coloured fellow.”

King then hopped in his De Soto and drove to the motel. Where he encountered John Barclay and asked for a room.

John Barclay then replied, “I am sorry but we are all filled up.”

King countered, “That’s funny, there is a vacancy sign outside.”

Barclay replied saying it was a mistake. In response, King pulled out his AMA membership since Barclay had an AMA sign outside. He asked if Barclay would honour it but Barclay simply said, “No.”

He then asked if the motel allowed coloured people. Barclay questioned why he was asking. It was at this point that King notified him that he was the person who he spoke on the phone with previously. King also identified him as the President and Grievance Committee Chair of the AAACP.

Barclay said, “since you ask, no, we don’t.”

King then asked if Barclay was the manager and he said, “I am the owner, and get out.”

Barclay then placed his hands on King with King saying. “Don’t put your hands on me. We are leaving, I am going to call the AMA about this and I will be back.”

After this encounter, King and Bailey discussed what happened and what options they had available. They decided to publicize their encounter in the local media and launch a legal challenge against Barclay’s discrimination.

King Examination

Lawyer C.A.G. Palmer was hired by King while Barclay chose to hire R.G. Couch. Palmer submitted the statement of claim on King’s behalf requesting damages for his denial. Their claim was based on the Innskeeper act that said a Innskeeper was required to serve all travelers who request lodging.

Couch responded by denying “each and every claim” presented by King. In addition, he denied that Barclay’s was covered by the Innkeeper act since an Inn was required to serve food - which Barclay’s did not. They also denied that King was a ‘traveller’ since he had a home in Calgary. At this point, both parties were examined by the others lawyer.

Couch largely based his questioning on King’s demeanor and whether or not Barclay felt threatened by his presence. The purpose of this was simple - to cast King as the ‘Angry Black Man’ figure and justify his refusal. Below are two excerpts from the King’s examination.

Couch: You weren’t angry in any way over what was said on the phone?

King: On the phone I was annoyed when I heard that he said he didn’t allow coloured people, but I wasn’t angry at that point.

Couch: Did you subsequently get angry?

King: Yes, I was quite angry.

Couch: Would you say your attitude was somewhat demanding?

King: No, I wouldn’t say that, not at the time, because at the time I went out there I didn’t know what his reasons for it. And I found many times in the past that people have what they think are good reasons for not wanting coloured people in their places. But they can’t seem to get through their heads is that what one person does, the rest of the people don’t. And I was quite sure if he said that he didn’t allow coloured people he must have a reason, I wanted to find out what the reason was.

King: Well, I wouldn’t say he is a large man, I would say he is a rather small man.

Couch: In comparison with you?

King: Yes, in comparison with me he would be, he is about the same height but I imagine he is quite slender.

This additional question stands out to me since it serves no purpose in verifying whether or not King’s account of events were true. Instead, it aims to build on the ‘Angry Black Man’ narrative and to justify the idea that Barclay was intimidated by King.

King’s examination then ended with Couch being unable to show inconsistencies in his account.

King’s license plate. According to Barclay, he chose to deny Barclay partly because he was not a ‘traveler.’ However, the questioning would reveal that Barclay did provide accommodation for locals.

King was there to visit prostitutes. According to Barclay, two “undesirable” women were occupying a room at the hotel. If Barclay suspected that King was visiting these women then he would have grounds to refuse him entry. However, this presented a catch-22 for Barclay. As Hamill notes, “Prostitution and Alberta motels may have had a close association, but it was always strictly unofficial, and Barclay could not admit to knowing or suspecting that these women were prostitutes.” Doing so would open him up to legal challenges.

Barclay: Mr. King came in and said, “I want a room.” As a rule people ask, “Have you a room.” He said, ‘I want a room.” I said, “i have no room.” He said --

Palmer: If you would just stop there. When you said you had no room that was not, in fact, true was it?

Barclay: No, no, no

Palmer: Go on?

Barclay: But it was a good excuse.

Palmer continues pushing this line of questioning and attempts to find out why Barclay felt that King was belligerent. The reasoning turned out to be relatively mundane.

Palmer: Apart from having use the words, “I want a room,” was there anything belligerent in Mr. King’s attitude before you said you had no vacancy?

Barclay: Yes. When people come in, “I want a room.” I think it is belligerent.

Palmer: You think that just those words constitute belligerency?

Barclay: In my opinion, people as a rule are polite.

Personally, it is quite surreal that anyone would believe that Barclay was threatened by King based on him simply asking for a room. Regardless, Barclay and his lawyer attempted to justify their refusal by relying on old racist stereotypes of Black men.

In addition, they heavily relied on Barclay being exempt from the ‘Innskeeper Act’ and that King not being considered a ‘traveller’ because he had a home in Calgary. These technicalities would form the basis for the court's decision.

Decision

On April 7, 1960, the case was decided by Judge Hugh Farthing of the Southern Alberta District Court. Farthings first job was to review both examinations and to decide which was more convincing. In regards to that, Farthing said:

“I am convinced of the sincerity of the Plaintiff in his desire to tell the truth. Defendant admitted that when he told Plaintiff the motel was fully occupied he knew it was not true. He gave his evidence with less confidence than Plaintiff, but this should not necessarily weigh conclusively against any witness. However, as to the conversations and events on the evening in question, I would accept the Plaintiff's version rather than the Defendant’s.”

Aftermath

King appealed the decision to the Alberta Supreme Court with the case being heard on February 14, 1961. The court maintained the ruling with all judges deciding that King was not a ‘traveller.’ In addition, four out of five judges upheld that Barclay’s did not qualify as an Inn because it did not serve food.

Oddly enough, the Judges took the unusual step to express their displeasure of King’s “attempt to use the courts to effect social change.”

Despite losing the case, King was able to make an impact. In 1961, the Alberta Legislature closed the loophole in the Innkeepers act by eliminating the requirement of an Inn offering food. In addition, they added a section to the legislation that said a motel could only remove a guest if they were “causing a disturbance.”

The legal documents on my floor at around 3 am. A majority of the documents were in dense legal language. It took considerable time to present the information in a clear way.

Personal Thoughts

The publicity of King's case along with the legislative changes meant that Black people would no longer be refused lodging due to the colour of their skin. If that were to happen then they could simply bring their case to the court and win thanks to the loopholes that King exposed.

King’s case follows a long legacy of Black-Canadians standing up for racial justice. On reflection, I can understand why most Canadian's may have not heard of Ted King. For starters, our civil rights history is buried with primary sources being difficult to find along with a lack of images to showcase this history.

For example, the American civil rights movement is well documented. When you think of American discrimination you probably think of photos showing segregated buses, and water fountains. Or perhaps photos showing people bravely standing up against that racial discrimination.

Now consider Canada. We know that Black people faced segregation in bars, theatres, swimming pools, and even hospitals. We also know that numerous Black Canadian’s stood up against these injustices. Yet, can you think of any images that show this resistance?

As a result, making Alberta's civil rights history easily accessible and vivid is a personal goal of mine. In King's case, this involved spending hours at the archives in order to describe the case so it was easily understandable. In addition, finding photos to show who King was along with the AAACP.

In my opinion, easily accessible material will be what makes this history more well known. For example, the general public knew almost nothing about Viola Desmond up until a few years ago. This only changed with a public education campaign in the form of a heritage minute, educational material geared towards youth, and her being depicted on our $10 bill.

Anyways, I want to close with some words from David Divine - a noted Black Canadian scholar.

"Viola Desmond in Nova Scotia, Hugh Burnett in Dresden Ontario, Ted King in Calgary: they all insisted on their rights, they all demonstrated great sense of dignity and their commitment to justice. In the process they changed the law of Canada, not for just themselves and for the black community but for all Canadians. The human rights legislation we have in place today, including the charter of rights and freedoms, owes its origin in great part to the refusal of courageous African Canadians to accept anything less than first class citizenship.”

Stanley

In this 1932 Grade 8 class photo sits a young Black boy, front-row centre. The boy is sitting awkwardly with only one of his shirt buttons done up while everyone else is well dressed and put together.

I was curious about the name of the student. So I dug up the yearbook and noticed that classmates wrote short quotes about one another.

One quote stood out to me - it said, ‘Stanley Petherbridge was walking down the street with the Birth of A Nation behind him.’ This surprised me. 'The Birth of A Nation' was a film that glorified the Klan and depicted Black people as uncivilized. It's disturbing to imagine being a lone Black student and having 'Birth of a Nation' referenced to you or referenced to a fellow classmate.

This made me wonder, was the Black student Stanley or someone else? Initially, I thought the quote was referencing the lone Black student. To find out, more digging needed to be done at the archives.

I'll mention more about the process later but for now I can confirm that the students name is Edward Bailey.

This photo struck me and made me wonder what life was like for Edward. He was living in a city run by a man the Klan helped elect, going to school a few kilometers away from their headquarters, and living in a time that saw frequent city-sanctioned cross burnings.

In order to understand the impact this had on Edward's life we must understand the history of Alberta and the anti-Black discrimination faced by Black Albertans.

Daniel Williams

Daniel Williams, known by the public as ‘Nigger Dan,’ was a freed slave who worked in northern Alberta as a fur trader during the mid to late 1800s. Early Black Albertans were often robbed of their last name and were commonly referred to as “Nigger” then their first name. Examples include the geographic location Nigger John Ridge (named after rancher John Ware until 1970) and 'Nigger' Molly, the first Black woman in Medicine Hat.

Black residents like Addie James were targeted by police 'morality squads.' The full actions of the Calgary and Edmonton 'morality' squads are unknown but the criminalization of early Black Albertans was apparent.

Daniel Williams began his life as a slave on a Georgian plantation. Once gaining freedom, he worked as a fur trader with the Hudson’s Bay Company. He was described as a ‘giant negro’ and was known to be the best shot in North-Western Canada. Later in his life, he was accused of spreading terror from the ‘Slave Lakes to the Klondike.’ The nature of his crimes were unclear but it was enough for him to be tried in Edmonton and hanged in Fort Saskatchewan. He had no defense counsel.

William 'Big Boy' Davis was similarily targetted by the 'morality' squad and placed in jail by Calgary police.

Daniel’s case is unique in that it is an early case of how Black criminality was used to scare the white Canadian population and perhaps one of the earliest cases of these stereotypical descriptions used towards Black Albertans.

Daniel’s story is important to understand since this would manifest itself much more prominently with the introduction of larger waves of Black immigration.

WE WANT NO DARK SPOTS IN ALBERTA.

.

In 1911, a Lethbridge Member of Parliament gave a speech in Edmonton opposing a wave of Black farmers coming from Oklahoma. His speech ‘We Want No Dark Spots in Alberta’ was meant to outline his opposition to Black immigration. He spoke about different classes of Albertans and how Black people were among the lowest class and were unable to properly integrate in Alberta. He closed his argument saying that ‘we do not want our province Black in spots.’

This myth was also in city papers. On April 6, 1911, the Edmonton Bulletin ran the headline ‘NEGRO ATTACKS A LITTLE GIRL.’ A girl said she was attacked and a search party was organized. It was alleged a Black man stole a diamond ring.

Two black men were arrested and placed in custody.

On April 13, 1911, the Edmonton Capital ran the headline ‘Police Hoodwinked By A Young Girl’ highlighting that the girl ‘lost the ring and was afraid to report the loss to her parents.’ The two Black men held were released.

This theme continued when the City of Edmonton barred Black patrons from one of the first public pools in 1924. The rationale, as described by Aldermen Joseph Adair was that, “It was inconceivable that a white woman would want to swim in a pool with Black men.”

These local cases, while disturbing, highlight the impact of the sterotypical criminality and hyper-sexualization of Black men. Opposition to Black immigration was also unique in the sense that they were barred from city pools, theatres, and not allowed in city bars. In fact, Edmonton was central to drawing the colour line in the early rejection of Black Albertans from city pubs.

These attitudes and depictions are important to understand since they were central to the structures of power that resisted Black immigration.

Kiwanis club minstrel show, Edmonton, Alberta. 1935.

Ku Klux Klan

The Klan emerged in Canada in the 1920s and had chapters throughout the country. Alberta’s Klan was the brainchild of J.J. Maloney who based the Klan in Edmonton and set up chapters throughout Alberta.

The Klan also held social prominence and hosted celebrations at the Hotel MacDonald - the best hotel in the city. They were also aggressive and sent threatening letters to those who opposed them.

Edward Bailey

With the historical context established, we can now discuss how we know that the lone Black student is named Edward. We can also confirm that the quote was referencing a white classmate.

A few months ago, I shared the class photo on twitter and had a CBC journalist, Kyle Muzyka, contact me. They were curious about the story and wanted to find out more about who exactly that student was. This was a relief because I was relatively busy and couldn't find the time to go to the archives.

I gave them the information I had and I got an update in April. Kyle contacted a friend at the Edmonton Public School Board archives. It turns out that the medical files for students were kept and that race was included in those documents.

After searching through the documents, Kyle manage to come across only one that was listed as 'African.' This is how they were able to confirm his name.

Not much else is known about Edward. All we know is that his father, Robert Bailey, was a Miner and that Edward suffered from measles at a young age. Regardless, it is nice to finally put a name to the photo.

Edward's quote in the yearbook was, "Ed is retiring from the shoe business."

This is what led the Klan’s influence to be effectively unchecked and is what led Alberta to be the only Canadian jurisdiction to grant the Klan provincial recognition and Edmonton being one of the few cities to sanction cross burnings. This recognition lasted until 2003.

The time when the Klan's influence peaked - the 1930’s - was the same time that Edward was going through Grade 8. In a city that did not permit Black people entrance to its theatre, city pools, or pubs.

It is important to recognize that Edward was growing up and surviving in a time where the Klan's reach and hateful message were commonplace to the point of reaching and influencing his classmates.

Legacy

This history is important to understand since it has effectively been whitewashed. Anytime I learned something troubling about a local historical figure, I would go on their Wikipedia page and find nothing about their white supremacist legacy. For example, Daniel Knott's portrait is two steps outside the mayor’s office with no reference to the Klan. He also has a school named after him.

This whitewashing reinforces the notion of the ‘Invisible Empire’ and, despite the Klan no longer being formally recognized, their invisible empire still exists.

In order to end this complacency and to destroy the invisible empire, we must shift our understanding of Canadian history in order to properly question our Anti-Black racism and the impact it has to this day.

We need to question which stories are told, which stories are hidden, whose statues are up, and whose are not. This is important because Black history is more than just telling select stories of triumph, but it is necessary to provide the context for these triumphs. To understand the resistance Black Edmontonians faced and the power structures they fought against.

Doing this will allow us to heal and move forward. It was too late for Edward but it is not too late for us.

Nakita Valerio and I first met in a university course called "Topics in the Study of the Middle East and Africa". As the class went on, I came to know her as a strong academic, an effective advocate and a good friend. Sure enough, we made sure to keep in touch after the semester ended.

We often ran into each other at local events, talks or rallies. In the year since I met Nakita, I have been consistently impressed by the community work she does. Nakita is somebody who not only cares about those facing struggles, but boldly takes action to help and empower them. I was surprised to learn that she is able to accomplish all of this as a university student while struggling to find child care on campus. Somehow, she is able to do all that she does while dealing with the high cost of child care as well as the lack of child care spaces.

I recently had the opportunity to ask Nakita to share her story, as well as her perspectives on the issue of child care on campus.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I did my Bachelor of Arts at the University over a period of 4 years, majoring in history and minoring in English. I took 5 years off from academia and had my daughter in Morocco in 2013. I returned the following year and began my Masters degree in History and Islamic-Jewish studies, examining the how the Jewish departure from Morocco is remembered.

How have you been able to balance child care and studying at the U of A?

With great difficulty. Finding good child care that was reasonably priced for the first 2 years of study was really tough because my daughter was just under one year old when I started. There was a drop in centre I used to take her to that was hourly so I would commute there before class, race back to campus, go to class for a few hours and then race back to pick her up. It was so stressful because if you were held up by traffic at all, you would be charged for the extra time. It was also very expensive. I was paying anywhere from $900 to $1000 per month on top of my home expenses, food, tuition and so forth. It was really challenging and if I hadn't received funding from various scholarships and the department, I would have had to leave school. Since that time, my daughter has grown and can now go to a combined preschool/play school program which is subsidized by the government for lower income families and that has really eased the burden for me. I can work on my thesis and research assistantship for longer periods during the day now without having to rush around insanely and the financial burden is substantially lessened. All of this makes it a lot easier to focus on the work I love and am being paid to do.

Can you talk about the accessibility of child care centres on or near campus?

There are a couple places for daycare on Whyte Ave (one is actually closing this spring) which is just a short transit ride from campus but is a nightmare during rush hour. I can't tell you how many times it was easier for me to run in -20, instead of hitting a bus that would just get stuck in traffic. There are a few preschools south of Whyte Avenue but they have set hours of operation and you have to decide at the beginning of the year if your child will be in morning or afternoon classes - often without knowing your own class or work schedule first. In other words, it is complicated. I ended up moving away from the area because the options for my child were so terrible. In the new neighbourhood, we found an excellent school with good programming, good hours and reasonable prices. I have to commute over an hour every day but that peace of mind is worth it.

What do you think can be done to improve child care on campus?

Something less than a 2 year wait list would be nice. I never did get on the list because it seemed so inaccessible and unrealistic. More childcare spaces would be nice, especially if they are subsidized. I don't think the University is aware of how many students and faculty actually use off-campus childcare and don't recognize the need for more spaces to be opened. The institution itself tends to do everything on a "by-demand" basis (see: never-ending arts cuts) without actually assessing what people need. Childcare on campus is just one part of that continuous oversight.

Why should child care matter to the average student?

It should matter because parents are students and faculty too. People shouldn't have to decide between starting a family and getting an education. Families enrich the university community and the neoliberal system that transforms academics into family-less, isolated workaholics is a relic of a dark past that should be dispensed with. Making space for parents to study is one way to deal with that.

A document issued to my family by the UNHCR to prove that we were asylum seekers. The man in the photograph is my father.

I’m seeing a lot of discussion lately about refugees crossing into Canada. In fact, as I write this, I am watching a debate in Canadian Parliament about whether or not we should close our borders to refugees. In addition, I am currently at the 2017 Japan-Canada Academic Consortium (JACAC) Student Forum, on the theme of "Immigration Policies and National Borders: Integration and Exclusion". Being at a forum about refugees means that I have been constantly reflecting on my own family's refugee experience and how it shaped who I am to this day.

I thought I would share some of these reflections.

To begin, In order to understand my story, we must first understand my parents. For now, I will talk about my father.

In 1959, my father was born in a northern Somali town called Borama and did his schooling and National Service as a teacher and soldier. Afterwards, he was accepted into the prestigious Somali National University to study Civil Engineering. He did extremely well and received an overall grade of 106/110. While in university, he met my mom. And after graduation, they decided to stay in Mogadishu.

My parents had a fairly normal life and my dad progressed from working in government to owning his own company in the capital. For those few years, life was peaceful. Unfortunately, the country had growing instability and the central government was losing power. My father, hoping it would blow over, wanted to stay. However, the gunfire did not stop and it came closer and closer. Eventually, in 1991, they made the difficult decision to leave their home.

Their plan was to go to the port and catch a boat to Kenya. Along the way, my father and mother were separated. It is unclear what exactly happened to my father - since he never talked about it - but he sustained war related hearing loss and experienced psychological trauma.

Nevertheless, my mom and older sister managed to make it on the boat. However, it sank along the way but they were rescued and ended up in Mombasa.

Fortunately, my father escaped and my family was reunited.

In Kenya, they claimed asylum and began their new life as refugees. It was a time of limbo and uncertainty. Nevertheless, my dad volunteered for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as an Engineer. This kept him busy while my mom worked in the market.

A few years later, in 1994, I was born. Born stateless.

This was because Kenya did not grant citizenship to refugees and the Somali government simply did not exist.

My family's life continued to be in limbo without legal status or guarantee of a stable life in Kenya or in a peaceful Somalia.

After six years in the camp, my family got word that Canada would grant us asylum. Soon after, we were on a plane and landed in Edmonton on February 12, 1997. This gave us hope.

However, my fathers degree and my mothers education were not recognized by the Canadian government. Nor was there a program for their credentials to be recognized. So they ended up taking whatever job they could get. My dad worked in Brooks in the meat packing plant while my mom worked as a nursing aid.

Despite this precarious employment - education continued to be important to him. So he enrolled at NAIT and worked to gain the qualifications necessary to be an engineer again. He also made sure to emphasis the importance of education to me. For example, he attended every single parent teacher meeting ready with questions.

Still, I was a pretty bad student. But in Grade 6, I managed to get 67% on an exam. I was proud so I showed it to my dad. He smiled and put it away. He believed in me.

On August 13, 2007, my father passed away.

My family was devastated and the years following were difficult for us. I felt lost and cared even less about education. This changed when I was going through his old stuff and found a box full of his degrees and awards. And at the top of the box was the test I wrote in Grade 6. This is when I realized the importance of education.

After that, I focused more and ended up doing well in Grade 9 - the year that decided what academic ‘stream’ you went into for high school. I ended up being streamed in Advanced Placement and got accepted into the University of Alberta.

In the years after, I've had numerous opportunities and experiences that have shaped who I am today. But every once in a while, I reflect.

Reflection is important.

For me, its important because my past heavily influenced my future. I entered Political Science because I wanted to understand why I ended up as a refugee. I got involved in politics because I didn't want others to go through the same struggles. And I write these posts because I know that a story makes these refugee situations more personal.

Anyhow, I feel for those who are currently making the precarious journey into Canada. Especially those who are entering from the United States - where their government treats refugees like criminals.

I guess my general point is that it's our responsibility to ensure that these refugees can claim asylum and have their case heard. They are people just like us.

As a result, we need to have empathy and put ourselves in their shoes. Because its possible that you may one day be a refugee.

On January 27, 2017, the United States President signed Executive Order 13769, popularly known as the ‘Muslim ban’. The order, in effect, banned legal visa owners from seven muslim majority countries from entering the US. Legal residents were denied entry, families were unable to reunite and people wondered what was next.

Thankfully, the move was immediately challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and an emergency order stopped the ban from being implemented. Immediately, local groups in Canada organized actions in solidarity. One particular protest was held on February 4 by Black Lives Matter Toronto, with support from Idle No More, The Chinese Canadian National Council and No One Is Illegal. They demanded that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemn the Muslim ban (which continues to affect Muslim Canadians), repeal the Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act, and end the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States.

Initially, it seemed like the Canadian government was about to take action. The Prime Minister’s office sent out a response on Twitter that received nearly half a million retweets. This message received widespread media coverage, and there was a global perception that Trudeau would condemn the Muslim ban.

However, this did not happen. At a hastily organized press conference the next day, Trudeau and his ministers said that they would not condemn the ban and that no additional actions would be taken to support refugees affected by the ban. This lack of action shocked many Canadians, especially communities and organizations that work directly with refugees.

During the February 4 protest, Black Lives Matter Toronto co-founder Yusra Khogali delivered a short speech in reference to a terrorist’s deadly attack on a Quebec City mosque.

When this shooting happened, there was a hashtag that went viral on social media saying that we need to pray for Quebec City. Quebec City is a white supremacist settler colony.*

When Justin Trudeau responded to the Muslim ban that this coward, this white supremacist coward, Donald Trump, put forward, what did Justin Trudeau say? He said he wanted to accept everyone who is not allowed into the US border to Canada.

Don’t cheer! Do not cheer, because we know what exactly that is. We know what that manipulation is.

It is what this country is founded on: erasure and silencing of the real history of this land: the genocide of indigenous people on which this state is founded on, the enslavement and genocide of black people on which this state founded on, the indentured slavery of racialized people on which this state is founded on.

When Justin Trudeau says that, he is a liar, he is a hypocrite, he is a white supremacist terrorist. That is what he is. Do not be fooled by this Liberal bullshit.

When mayor John Tory said that Toronto is a sanctuary for refugees, when black people are being murdered in the city, we have questions: What happened to Andrew Loku? What happened to Jermaine Carby? What happened to Abdirahman Abdi?

How is the city a sanctuary when black people are being murdered so mercilessly?

Yusra’s remarks led to a media backlash where pundits called for her resignation, condemned the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and called BLM “the next KKK”. Most articles chose to focus their attention on her comment about Trudeau being a “white supremacist terrorist”. Not one major article properly recognized or conveyed the context of her speech. Nor did they choose to actually evaluate her words. The media was not interested in her message; they were interested only in the way she delivered it.

Her message was straightforward. Trudeau's refusal to condemn the US President’s Islamophobic rhetoric reiterates the oppression and suffering of Muslim-Americans and Muslim-Canadians. In addition, the worldwide assumption that the Canadian government did openly oppose the ban reinforces the myth of Canadian exceptionalism, by which Canadians and onlookers believe that Canada and its values are superior to our neighbours to the south. This myth is extremely dangerous because it inhibits proper discussions around race and discrimination in our own country.

We conveniently forget about discriminatory legislation such as Bill C-51 (Anti-terrorism Act) or Bill S-7 (Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act). We blame tragedies like the terrorist attack in Quebec on divisive American politics while remaining willfully ignorant of our own toxic attitudes towards those considered outsiders. We also refuse to acknowledge that Canada was built on the exclusion and discrimination of groups such as Indigenous populations, Japanese communities, and black and Chinese immigrants.

Regardless of intentions, Trudeau’s inaction did nothing to help Muslim-Canadians. Rather, his initial misdirection damaged relationships between the government and civil society by making it easier for the general Canadian public to blame Canadian problems on the United States.

This frustration with our leadership is where Yusra’s comments originate. And in this context, her comments makes sense. As a society, we should seek to understand the perspectives of those calling for help rather than focusing on the inconveniences of their delivery. The key to solving a problem is recognizing that it exists.

I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.]]>Canadian Exceptionalism and Understanding Black Lives MatterAt the Expense of International StudentseducationBashir MohamedMon, 30 Jan 2017 01:05:59 +0000https://www.bashirmohamed.com/blog/at-the-expense-of-international-students5882e9a520099ed871ae0a41:588812a1f7e0abceb8eeb609:588e61fa17bffc6e424fd7cbInternational students make up a large portion of the student population at
the University of Alberta, yet issues that they face are often overlooked
by the institutions that represent and govern these students.

Students protesting the international differential fee in 1977 at the Alberta Legislature.

International students make up a large portion of the student population at the University of Alberta, yet issues that they face are often overlooked by the institutions that represent and govern these students. Moving to a new country, navigating immigration policies in a second language and facing unpredictable financial burdens are challenging endeavours faced uniquely by international students.

Over the last few years, I became actively aware of many issues faced by international students, and I realized how unfamiliar I was with the specifics of their plight when I first entered university as a domestic student. International students are burdened with extremely high tuition costs, and are often only able to attend the University of Alberta if they receive a full scholarship. Those who do not complete their programs are usually forced to repay scholarships, leave the country and face an uncertain future. These drastic consequences create immense pressure to succeed academically.

Despite the unique barriers they face, international students should nevertheless have their concerns addressed by the bodies that represent them. They should be assured that their experiences and responsibilities are governed by the rule of law and the basic principles of good governance.

I recently discovered that the university administration, Students’ Union and the Alberta provincial government may have broken this trust by imposing an illegal extra financial burden upon international students.

Going against the grain, then-provincial NDP leader Grant Notley opposed the international differential fee when it was first introduced.

Background

Contrary to what many people seem to believe, ‘international student tuition’ is not one fee. In fact, international and domestic students alike pay the exact same ‘base tuition’, which is regulated by the provincial government under the Post-Secondary Learning Act (Public Post-Secondary Institutions’ Tuition Fees Regulation). International students also pay an additional surcharge called the ‘international differential fee’ (IDF), which is not government-regulated.

The IDF is currently almost three times larger than the base tuition (I encourage you to verify this for yourself using the University of Alberta’s Undergraduate Cost Calculator). However, this was not always the case. Due to the IDF’s discriminatory nature, the University of Alberta expressed opposition to the IDF from the time it was mandated by the provincial government in 1976 until 1991. For fifteen years, the IDF remained at 50 percent of base tuition due to the university’s active resistance to the provincial mandate.

In 1992, however, the IDF was suddenly increased from 50 percent to 100 percent of base tuition. Facing budget shortfalls and an economic recession, the university gave into the province’s mandate with the specific intention of increasing revenue. International students continued to be seen by the university as merely a source of extra cash, and the IDF was steadily increased to the exorbitant amount we know today. The Post-Secondary Learning ActTuition Fees Regulation was amended in 2015 to introduce a tuition freeze on base tuition for all students (below), but the IDF continues to increase year after year.

Overcharging

While the Post-Secondary Learning Act mandates that base tuition be increased according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the University of Alberta adheres instead to an institution-specific index known as the Academic Price Index (API) to determine the rate of inflation applied to the IDF. In 2016, the CPI was 1.5% while the API was set at 3.02%.

Even though the API is used to collect increasing amounts of revenue from international students this year, inflation under this index can only be applied to the IDF and not to base tuition. International students should still pay the same base tuition as domestic students.

In December 2016, the University of Alberta Board of Governors voted to increase "Tuition and International Differential Fees (IDF) to all international students in all programs" (Item 5a). This violates the provincially mandated tuition freeze and the Post-Secondary Learning Act.

A slide from the University of Alberta Provost's presentation to the Board of Governors in December 2016.

The API was used to increase the IDF and the base tuition – for international students only. In the case shown above, an undergraduate Arts faculty student would be overcharged by about $160 while a student in the Juris Doctor program would be overcharged by almost $350.

Seeking Clarification

When I first noticed this in January, nearly a month had passed since the tuition increase. As someone who keeps up to date with student issues, I was sure I must have overlooked something since I hadn’t heard about this issue yet. There must have been an exception documented somewhere – if what I found was accurate, then this issue would have surely been brought to light much sooner.

Initially, I looked at the Finance and Property committee meeting minutes, since this was one of the first committees where the tuition increase would have been presented. These records confirmed that the API was applied to the both the IDF and base tuition.

Confused, I mentioned the issue to the speaker of the Students’ Council, asking for direction on how to follow-up on this issue further. He suggested that I bring it up at that evening’s Students’ Council meeting, where an Open Forum period would be provided for ordinary students to ask questions to Council and the Students’ Union (SU) executive team.

I arrived at Council, hoping to clarify if the base tuition was actually increased along with the IDF. Was the tuition freeze not meant to apply to international students in the first place? If not, was there any documented proof of a decision to exclude international students from the tuition freeze? If there was no written proof, had the SU ever sought clarification on the matter?

Nearly two and a half hours into the meeting, I was finally given the opportunity to ask my questions. The SU President explained that, from his understanding, the tuition freeze only applied to the base tuition paid by domestic students. Since I was unable to find any provincial documentation confirming the exclusion of international students from the tuition freeze, I asked the President if he had documentation to back up his statement. He replied that the Minister confirmed the exclusion at a press event and phone call. He ensured me that the corresponding press release would state that the tuition freeze only applied to domestic students.

In fact, the press release did not differentiate domestic and international students with regards to the tuition freeze. The Budget 2016 background document also failed to specify. I had more questions to ask the SU executive, but Students’ Council voted to end Open Forum period after only 15 minutes. I was effectively silenced, but I was determined to follow the issue further. Since the President seemed so sure that the tuition freeze only applied to domestic students, I asked the Chair of the Board of Governors for clarification.

The Chair responded with a background document of the Tuition Review. This document does allege that the tuition freeze only applies to domestic students, yet the policy regulation that it references is the Post-Secondary Learning Act Tuition Fee Regulation itself. As I mentioned previously, this legislation only specifies the conditions for the tuition freeze. It does not exclude international students.

Alarmed by the discrepancy in the public government communications, I brought the issue to the Gateway student newspaper. The Gateway has direct access to the Press Secretary of the Ministry of Advanced Education, and my hope was that the Press Secretary could clarify where provincial legislation excludes international students from the tuition freeze. The Gateway is still investigating this issue, and I hope to receive an update to clear the air soon.

Conclusions

The Students’ Council, Students’ Union and University of Alberta Board of Governors all followed up on the issue by referencing press releases, verbal communication and background documents with no legal implications rather than specific legislation. Unsure responses and contradictory statements demonstrate a lack of understanding of the basic structure of international tuition, while a failure to cite legally-binding documents represents a nonchalant attitude towards the issue. This highlights a pervasive attitude within our post-secondary education system in which issues faced by international students are overlooked. These students already face so many unique challenges that domestic students do not, and the institutions that govern and represent them should address their needs and concerns the same way they do for domestic students.

Apparent discrepancies as large as the incorrect tuition increase of December 2016 should be immediately identified and resolved. A lack of general understanding of international student matters, and widespread sloppiness and ignorance prevent progress towards truly representing international students. While those who govern must always ask themselves “Is what we’re doing legal?”, those who represent must bear the responsibility of asking “Is what they’re doing right legally and morally?” When one ceases to consider the moral implications of an issue, one can easily become complacent towards the issue and forget to question its legal basis.

University of Alberta students opposing the international differential fee increase at the Board of Governor's meeting in December 2013. Credit: Joshua Le.

]]>At the Expense of International StudentsA ReintroductionpersonalBashir MohamedWed, 25 Jan 2017 04:01:56 +0000https://www.bashirmohamed.com/blog/a-reintroduction5882e9a520099ed871ae0a41:588812a1f7e0abceb8eeb609:588821dd37c581abe4f6d4d8Hello, there. My name is Bashir, and I am a Somali-Canadian university
student and active citizen. Those who know me are familiar with my work on
issues such as refugee health and post-secondary accessibility. Many people
who don’t know me personally might also be aware of my opinions, but may
not understand the context of my perspective or my motivations for sharing
them.

Hello, there. My name is Bashir, and I am a Somali-Canadian university student and active citizen. Those who know me are familiar with my work on issues such as refugee health and post-secondary accessibility. Many people who don’t know me personally might also be aware of my opinions, but may not understand the context of my perspective or my motivations for sharing them.

Over the past few years, I have often found myself unintentionally in the public eye. Navigating this new sphere has proved many times to be a rewarding experience. People from numerous communities have reached out to express shared values around my words and actions and generously offered their support or solidarity. Moving forward in this unfamiliar landscape has also been challenging.

I would like to take this opportunity to reintroduce myself and voice my thoughts on issues that I care about in a more thorough and accessible format. I hope that doing so will provide opportunities to build understanding between the diverse communities around me and facilitate constructive discussion on the way we approach these issues.

Beginnings

Like those of so many other Canadian families, my story does not originate here. My family has deep roots in Somalia, but they were forced to flee in 1991 due to the onset of the Somali Civil War. My father was a trained civil engineer, and a graduate from the Somali National University, the top university in the country at the time. My mother was in the middle of her university education in pursuit of a degree in nursing. With promising careers on the horizon and a young daughter (my older sister), the war interrupted them just as they were approaching a prime period in their lives. After a struggle to flee the conflict, my family found themselves in a refugee camp in Kenya. This is where I was born.

For six years, my father worked for the United Nations as an unpaid engineer while my mother made a small side income by selling items in the local market. For me and my siblings, uncertainty was all we knew. We had no idea if the war would end or if we would be able to return to Somalia. We didn’t know if the refugee camp where I was born and raised would be our permanent home or merely a stop on the way to somewhere else.

To our surprise, we received news in 1997 that we would be relocated to Canada. We didn’t know much about the country, other than the fact that it was cold and the little information my mother had learned from television shows. Nevertheless, we were relieved to have been granted a sense of permanency.

Education

Upon our arrival in Canada, my parents quickly realized that their university degrees would not be recognized. This was an extremely difficult situation for two people who held the value of education in high regard. Rather than pursuing their studies full-time in this new country, they worked long hours at entry-level jobs in order to provide for my siblings and me. I will be forever grateful for their sacrifices.

Despite their setbacks, my parents continued to emphasize the importance education. I remember my father attending each and every one of my parent-teacher meetings. He made sure to overwhelm the teacher with questions, and would prepare additional ‘homework’ for me to complete on my own outside of school.

My father also committed to continuing his own studies, and he enrolled at NAIT when I was in the fifth grade. He was determined to contribute to society using his skills as engineer once again, and he began to work night shifts in order to attend classes during the days. Unfortunately, this level of work and the stress it caused took a major toll on him. On August 13, 2007, after coming home from a night shift, he suffered a heart attack and passed away.

I felt lost after my father’s passing, and I slowly developed a hatred for school. Anger dominated my thoughts and my grades steadily declined. I entered Grade 9, my final year of junior high, with low expectations and a poor outlook on life. Grade 9 marks were what determined the level of courses a student could take in high school, but I wasn’t thinking about high school or my future after that.

In an attempt to learn more about my father’s life, I found myself looking through his old study space in my house’s basement. I came across a box that contained his degree, certificates and awards. These accomplishments reflected the intelligent, versatile and hard-working man he was, and I felt guilt over having neglected my own education despite his sacrifices. Admiring his achievements, I was surprised to find an old test I had written in Grade 6. I remembered writing the exam with little confidence and being excited by a mark of 67%, which was high for me at the time. I remembered my father’s smile when I showed it to him, and was touched by the fact that he held onto it until his passing.

I discovered a newfound motivation to excel in education after being powerfully reminded by this memento. Using this, I achieved top marks in Grade 9 and dedicated myself to my studies. I was able to enter the Advanced Placement programme in high school, and was proud to be accepted into the University of Alberta.

Activism

Despite my performance in school, many others from my community continued to struggle and face numerous barriers to education. Seeing their plight allowed me to think critically about my situation and realize that I needed to do something to help others. At the time, the federal government was intending to cut funding for refugee health care. I was outraged upon hearing this news. This would only build on existing barriers and make it more difficult for newcomers to adapt.

In response, I did something silly. I bought some supplies from the dollar store and made my own makeshift sign. I marched to the Alberta Legislature grounds and protested – alone. People must have thought I was crazy, but I knew I had to get involved somehow. I eventually joined a group called Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care. They had a much more organized approach and launched a campaign to ask important questions to government officials directly.

Soon after, I started asking my own questions. In 2012, I heard the news that Jason Kenney, the then-Minister of Immigration and Citizenship, would be speaking at an event in Edmonton. I took the chance. I put on a suit and tie and asked him a question during his speech (there was no formal Q&A period). When I stood up, other attendees dragged me out of the event, and I was arrested by police to be charged with assault. The charges were promptly dropped when police reviewed video footage of the question. Perhaps they felt threatened by my words.

After a few more years of steady advocacy by groups like Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care, the federal government reversed the cuts to the program. The courts went a step further and declared the cuts “cruel and unusual.” My experience advocating for refugee health care showed me that I could use words to affect change.

Post-Secondary & Student Governance

My initial plan at university was to keep my head down and focus on my studies. However, this proved to be difficult since tuition and affordability issues continued to affect me day in and day out, both personally and in the lives of those around me. I came to realize that the stress and burden on so many students brought about by these issues was unfair, and I knew the University could be better.

A friend suggested that I join the Students’ Council if I wanted to be able to create change in areas where I saw need for improvement. I threw my name into the hat as soon as the nominations were open for the next student election. I had little knowledge or experience with campaigning, so all I did was talk to classrooms and say things off the top of my head. The candidates I was running against seemed much more organized and prepared, but students were engaging positively with my campaign points. Many students expressed gratitude for representing issues not often addressed in student governance, and I ended up winning by a margin of only six votes.

Over the next two years, the Council turned out to be largely ineffective on the issues that mattered to me. My calls for the lowering of tuition were initially met with the statement that lowering tuition is ‘unrealistic’. In this sense, I failed during my time on Students’ Council. Nonetheless, I pushed on a variety of other issues and passed motions that challenged the legality of the International Differential Fee, promoted a more student-centered form of advocacy, and resisted support for tuition increases. Through my time on Students’ Council, I learned to navigate through an often illogical system in order to accomplish things that mattered to me.

After three years in student governance, I was beginning to feel burnt out. I had reached a point where I often found myself alone in debates, and I no longer felt that my voice had an effect on student issues. I resigned from Students’ Council and decided to focus my efforts on provincial politics and grassroots issues such as human rights education. I was able to secure a position in the provincial government with the Minister of Human Services office. In this role, I was given the opportunity to advise the Minister and to work on policies relating to disabilities and aboriginal children in care. Working within the government afforded me the chance to truly gain an understanding of the provincial governments philosophy and approach to political issues.

In the year following my departure from student governance, I attended conferences in Australia, United Arab Emirates and Morocco, and completed two academic semesters abroad in South Korea, where I rode my bike across the country to raise funds for North Korean refugees. This international experience was extremely necessary in improving my mental health and expanding my perspective beyond the provincial context. I learned that provincial politics was just a small part of where I could make an impact.

Despite being abroad, I continued to follow issues affecting my fellow students at the University of Alberta. A change in the governing provincial political party led me to refocus my attention to post-secondary issues. I believe that we face an opportunity to create greater change on many fronts that I fought during my time on Council. My travels have allowed me to view student governance from a more holistic and optimistic perspective.

Anti-Racism & Policing

Having spent my formative years in Canada, I operated on the assumption that I was a Canadian like any other. My parents continuously told me and my siblings to not let others define us by the colour of our skin or by our refugee background. I came to know Canada as a mosaic of various cultures, but also a country where absolute strangers would take their time to help a new Somali family adjust to Canada, regardless of cultural or religious differences.

Throughout my teenage years, the city of Edmonton was facing an epidemic of young Somali men being murdered. The issue became personal for me when there was a murder in my own neighbourhood, and one of my close friends was murdered. Many members of my community were shocked by the response from the police force. At one point, the Edmonton Police Service suggested that they would not put the same resources into investigations involving murders of Somali men that they would put into investigations for other murder cases. I was also appalled by the general public reaction from my fellow Canadians. I recall getting strange looks in public and reading online comments expressing sentiments such as “good riddance” in reference to the murders.

Through the high murder rate of young Somali men and the response from Edmonton Police Service and the general public, I became highly aware of the discrimination faced by the Somali community. For the first time, I felt like an outsider in my own home. Remembering the words of my parents, I decided that I wouldn’t let this prejudicial treatment discourage me, and I focused my energy on academics, volunteering and community experience.

Despite efforts to ignore it, I continued to face racially-motivated incidents due to the colour of my skin. The most publicized of these incidents took place in August 2016. I was riding my bike legally downtown when a group of people in the vehicle behind me became angry and started harassing me by honking and driving aggressively. When we stopped at a red light, a man later got out of the car, rushed towards me, and called me a ‘nigger’. I was taken aback, but realized that I would face charges if I retaliated. I recorded the incident on my phone, and luckily there were CBC reporters nearby who witnessed the incident. Unlike victims hundreds of similar incidents that occur in the city every day, I had witnesses and video evidence.

With this information, I biked to the nearest police station and filed a report. Unfortunately, the officer doubted that charges could be laid since I was not physically injured. This surprised me since the man had broken traffic laws and attempted to assault me. I received a similarly shocking response with an investigating officer when he interviewed the other party three days later days later. He told me that, because I stopped in traffic to film the incident, he would have to charge me if the other party was to be charged.

There was nothing I could do. The event was categorized as a ‘hate incident’ rather than a ‘hate crime’, meaning that the other party’s actions were not punishable by law. The investigating officers did not properly understand bike laws, only realizing later that everything I did was legal. Frustrated, I spoke to city councillors and was told that responding to incidents like mine were outside of their mandate. I then spoke to the Edmonton Police Commission, who told me that they were unable to change police policies. I requested a meeting was an officer but was denied.

Though I was traumatized by the incident and the following response from the police, my interest in policing and anti-racism work was piqued. I was able to witness first-hand how inadequately the system addresses issues of hate crimes or assaults.

Reflections

A common saying in Somalia goes something like: “until the lion learns to speak, the tales of hunting will always favour the hunter.” This line of thinking led me to visit Somalia for the first time in Fall 2016. Nearing the end of my university degree, I was eager to know more about my own story and discover more of my identity.

My four-month visit to Somalia was a way for me to cap off this part of my journey. I learned the impact my parents had on relatives and on ordinary people in their community. People would open up and treat me with kindness when they learned who my parents were. It was in Somalia that I realized how much my parents truly left behind. I had an increased appreciation for the opportunities that I am grateful to have had in Canada. I am deeply privileged to have been one of the few refugees that was granted asylum, and I know that I cannot waste this opportunity.

Until now, I have shared my thoughts on my private social media or through my Twitter account. However, 140 characters are not effective at properly articulating my perspectives on several issues. I intend to use this website as a public space where I can express, in further depth, my thoughts about issues I deeply care about. I hope that you will join me in building understanding between communities and discussing matters that affect our shared society.